January 1
Area:
BCC
Location:
Cardiff, Mill B South, Mineral Fork.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
7000’-10’600’, angles to 40°, all aspects.
Avalanche activity:
Large natural slide from middle of last week off the Santiago buttress in Mineral fork. Occurrence timing and actual size unknown because of wind erosion. No other slides noted.
Slopes skied:
Keyhole entry into main Cardiff, Cardiac bowl two pitches, Cardiac pass entry into Mill B, upper Mineral and out.
Snow surface and conditions:
Old used up wind and sun damaged, with a patch of settled old snow here and there. Recrystalization has broken down some of the thinner wind crusts and continues to effect both the upper layering and some deeper layers in shallow snow areas. The stronger and stouter wind crusts have seen only limited break down and remain almost unchanged. Off aspects out of the wind are experiencing repeated radiation recrystalization.
Weather:
Partly cloudy to clearing during the day. A cool north wind, decreasing in the afternoon. Moderate temperatures.
Evaluation:
The purpose of the tour was to have a look at the slide in upper Mineral. Strong winds since the occurrence limited the learning to almost nill, other than the fact that a good sized avalanche had occurred into older snow layering leaving a base of only a few inches in the starting zone and removing a few small trees. The snow is comfortable with it’s condition. Most tension has been eliminated with time and faceting. There may be an active wind drift or two lingering because of the widespread drifting. These would likely be shallow although it is possible that an isolated area may have one a foot or two deep in the most drifted over shallow pre existing snow areas.
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